Top 10 sales closing techniques

Top 10 sales closing techniques

Effective sales closing techniques that will never fail you with your deals closing.

Introduction

The conventional wisdom says it’s possible to design grand solutions for customers, to prospect effectively and qualify efficiently, but the pivotal point of your career in sales will depend upon your knowledge of the effective closing techniques. Sure, it’s vital to attract numerous leads, create promising opportunities, exchange persuasive emails, make compelling calls or carry out successful meetings. But one of the most important points is to close your deals on the spot, efficiently and effectively. We decided to gather and streamline a collection of the winning techniques on how to close sales and seal as many deals as possible. Most of the techniques have psychological underpinnings. These techniques are not inborn talents, they can be learned. In order to master sales closing as an artful means of persuasion, you require confidence, training and self-assurance. So, below you can find the most common killer closing techniques we want to share with you, with phrasing examples, wherever appropriate.

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01

The Visualization Close

Always base your strategy and tactics on the way a human brain works. In this case, if you help the prospect visualize what they're purchasing and sum it up in a concise way, it's easy for them to understand what they buy, and why. Make them literally see what you offer, as more than 90% of people perceive the world and take decisions based on the visual input data. According to research, the human brain processes images 60,000 times faster than words. So, it’s your real quickest chance to get to your potential clients’ brains and hearts.

02

The Puppy Dog Close

It’s one of the simplest, yet actionable and effective sales closing techniques. To enact this technique, you are to allow your prospects test drive your product, whatever it might be. The actual feeling of possessing or trying the thing they like makes them happy and satisfied; as a result - they want to buy it from you.

03

The Assumptive Close

Assuming that your sale will close is a powerful and highly effective technique, not only to close sales but to carry out other activities as well. The only thing you have to do is to be as uber confident as possible in your product and yourself. This technique draws on the power of positive thinking, which is so popular nowadays: you are to center on your dream come true. This technique presupposes using a phrase that assumes the close is a done deal. You can create a set of your own assertive statements to resort to them whenever necessary. E.g. “What day do you want to receive your order?”

04

The Question Close

A good idea is to ask a series of probing questions during the negotiations, to eliminate all objections to buy, or try to close the sale with a question. The sales rep can address objections and gain a commitment. Asking questions is a win-win situation; questions urge people to act and help you discover whether your product appeals to your customers. E.g. “Is there anything preventing you from agreeing to this deal today?”

05

The Analytics Close

Historians say Ben Franklin made decisions in the following way: he created a list with two columns (pros and cons) and based his choice on the longer one. If you have clients who are analytical personalities by their nature, you’ll benefit from compiling lists of your product’s advantages (and disadvantages too) in advance; then offer your customers the chance to make their own decision.

06

The Now Or Never Close

To entice into buying those tough customers of yours who are still hesitating, offer them some special benefit (discount, gift, bonus, attractive quotes etc.). The efficacy of the technique is based on the following psychological mechanism: people are often afraid to commit, even if they want what you offer them, no matter what it is. Just simplify for them the process of taking a decision (to your advantage). E.g. "If you sign up today, I can offer 25% discount.”

07

The Urgency Close

It’s recommended to create a sense of urgency which places pressure on the prospect and forces them to make a decision about purchasing. But you are to be well-versed in timing and pacing, not to commit serious mistakes as for the timeframes your clients can operate within. E.g. “This is a limited time offer that is valid till the end of the day.”

08

The Empathy Close

Emotions possess immense power; they can change the world. To reel your customers in, you’re more than welcome to use emotions and empathy, leaving reason in the backseat. It’s recommended to relate product benefits and the aspects of customers’ problems. Showing them that you care about their pain really helps. Put yourself in their shoes and genuinely say how you would feel and what you would like to do. Imagine you’re a doctor: instead of selling a product, focus on prescribing a solution to a problem, a pill to a pain, as it were.

09

The Hard Close

To overcome customer’s inertia and to pull the trigger quicker, you can resort to the hard close. This technique requires tons of courage and confidence from you, and should only be used when you have nothing to lose. This face to face overt selling when you directly push someone into buying is a real tough challenge, especially for a newbie, but cheek brings success. E.g. “Could you please sign the agreement?”

10

The Take Away Close

There’s one more handy psychological method to close sales effectively. The procedure is the following: to introduce enticing features, then offer rejecting them for the sake of something else, perhaps more interesting. The result entails that the customers don’t want let fall what they almost had; they don’t want to lose anything on their wish list and move forward to purchase the product.
The phenomenon is accompanied by one more psychological impact. People love to follow the trends so to grab the attention of the potential customers you only have to tell them that your brand is popular; and then simply suggest replacing or rejecting it.

Actually, there are other types of sales closing techniques and different methods to close deals depending on your unique circumstances (e.g. the rebound close, the alternative close, and so on).

Some psychological pieces of advice to close sales

Want to push your customers make a purchase right away? Here are several handy tips and tricks based on the way the consumer psychology works:

Be equipped with multiple sales closing techniques in advance

Be persistent (the average sale takes 3-5 closing attempts before the deal is done; most sales reps give up after 1-2 closing attempts)

Be customer-oriented (try to be in their shoes and feel their worries and woes)

Be proactive (think about possible objections and alternatives)

Top technology that helps you close sales

There is a plethora of software solutions to help you close sales and seal deals like a boss, and even more. If you are interested, you are always welcome to dig deeper into the question of sales automation software. Numerous technical solutions can help you improve performance and increase efficiency of your sales. Among them - SmartCloud Connect, a customizable, all-in-one solution (with trial version) that brings Salesforce right to your Inbox and Calendar; it lets you synchronize emails, meetings and tasks between your CRM and Office 365/Outlook.

Conclusion

Once you’ve walked your prospect all the way along the meandering path of a deal, there’s the final decisive stage – sales closing. Above, we’ve shared some insights on smart techniques to be used in working with customers, and we wish you stunning success in sales closing!

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